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Last weekend my parents came down to Long Beach to visit. This meant quite a bit of eating out. But the I Create My Body program still helped me. Between Friday night and Sunday morning, I had gained 4 lbs. But by Friday, not only were those 4 lbs. gone … so were the remaining 1.5 I had set as my goal.

Put another way … I gained less than I could have considering how many times I ate out over the three days …. and between Monday and Friday, I lost 5.5 lbs.!

Again, I didn’t diet.

This was what I noticed over the week:

1) I had a less of a desire to binge while at a restaurant than I have had in the past. I ate sensibly and took home leftovers. Frankly, I just don’t feel right eating when I’m not hungry any more and I no longer have the “food lack” mentality I’ve had for much of my life. The wonderful tasting food will always be there … I don’t have to eat it NOW.

2) After my parents had left, I was less hungry than before. So less food satisfied me. It was like my body was trying to pull me back toward my goal, rather than just continue expanding like before.

This is what continues to blow my mind about this program. Cravings I’ve had all my life are nearly … if not completely … gone. I feel totally satisfied on less food. My former desire to eat things now because they might not be there tomorrow (because someone else will eat them) is non-existent. I now eat what I need and am satisfied.

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I’m a bit of a geek and trained as a science writer, so I subscribe to a number of science news and information newsletters. The other day this story from the Genetics Society of America came across my email box and I thought I’d share the gist of it with you.

Recent research, reported in the July 2010 issue of Genetics, shows that genes interacting with diet, rather than diet alone, are the main cause of variation in metabolic traits, such as body weight.

What does this mean? Well, it means that it is not just what you eat, but how your body interacts with what you eat that affects your ability to maintain your body weight. It also explains why some diets work better for some people than others.

The bottom line: This study strongly suggests that some individuals can achieve benefits from altering their dietary habits, while the same changes for others will have virtually no effect.

So, remember that fad diet you tried that worked great for your friend but not for you … it doesn’t mean you did something wrong. It just means that the diet wasn’t right for you and your individual genetic make up.

Now, this research was conducted using fruit flies … so the findings are not conclusive for humans. But it does point in a very interesting direction. There has been talk of tailoring medication to one’s genetic make up. The findings of this study suggest that diets could also be much more successful when tailored to an individual’s genes rather than to physical appearance, as well.

“Each person has a unique set of genetic and environmental factors contributing to his or her metabolic health,” said Laura K. Reed, Ph.D, a researcher from the Department of Genetics at North Carolina State University, the lead investigator in the work, “and as a society, we should stop looking for a panacea and start accepting that this is a complex problem that may have a different solution for each individual.”

What I find also interesting is how this research intersects with the I Create My Body program. You see, your body intuitively knows what’s good for you. When you participate in this program, you help your mind listen to your body, which means you will be more inclined to eat the foods that your body needs to loose and eventually maintain an healthy body weight. Basically, this program helps your mind and body work together to create your ideal body.

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A lot of people use diet pills to lose weight fast. I’ve learned that this is not the way to go, at least for me.

Now I might be a special case … I don’t tolerate stimulants very well. In fact, caffeine in low doses puts me to sleep and the amount found in a can of Pepsi makes me feel like I have a hangover.

Any way, once upon a time I did try using Dexetrim. It never had any effect on my hunger, but it did make me feel jittery and sick. Oh joy.

Then, for awhile, they came out with an herbal version that was caffeine and effedra free and it actually did reduce my hunger. But it is now off the market and every diet pill I’ve looked at has caffeine as a primary ingredient, so I can’t even give them a try.

So, you can imagine my elation when I found that the I Create My Body program actually reduces my appetite. In fact, it has been more effective in reducing my appetite than any diet pill ever was.

Since I started the program, I’ve had days where I skip meals … not because I was trying to but because I simply forgot because I wasn’t hungry! How awesome is that?

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I’ve always held that much if not all of my excess weight has been caused by my mind. But I was never sure of how.

I mean, all this time, I’ve been eating the same amount I ate when I was 143lbs. How have I gained all this weight? Why was I gaining weight during these 13 years and not before?

And it struck me today, while I was in the shower after my afternoon workout, that the mind is so powerful, it can slow down your metabolism to satisfy an unconscious thought.

What my particular unconscious thoughts were is irrelevant to the conversation at hand. But suffice it to say, I’ve certainly had some reasons that I am now prepared to let go.

I believe that this is why other diets have not worked for me, but the I Create My Body program seems to be doing the trick. The crux of the program is working on the root of my issues — my mind and unconscious thoughts.

Through this program, I am using universal laws to reprogram my unconscious so that it will pull me toward my ideal body and weight.

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I’m trying to clear out my cupboard so I don’t have to move (or throw away) a bunch of food when I move to Los Angeles at the end of July. This goal has led me to experiment with ingredients. Last night, I created a concoction I call “Chicken Peach Cobbler”:

I trimmed the fat off the chicken and placed it in a greased cake pan. Then I drained as much of the syrup off the peaches as I could and tossed them on top of the chicken. Then I put the veggies on top of that.

In a bowl, I mixed the pancake mix, soy milk, egg and melted butter together until all the mix was moist. And then I spread that on top of the chicken. Then I put some grated cheese on top of that.

I baked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then dropped the temp to 350 and baked for another 10 minutes.

Because the chicken was still a little frozen, I ended up having to bake another good 20 minutes at 300 to 350 degrees.

I liked it. Rich thought it was “interesting.”

What would I do differently?

I would cook the chicken before putting it in the cake pan so that it doesn’t require such a long baking time. I’d probably cook it in some the peach syrup from the can, because baking the chicken with the peaches gave it a nice peachy quality.

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On Monday, after a long day of cleaning the old apartment, lugging junk to the trash and moving a selection of grocery bags and open boxes full of last-minute stuff into the new apartment, we went out to a Chinese buffet for dinner. The restaurant had left a nice “Grand Opening” flyer offering 10% off our order on our door that morning.

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the new buffet, tasting sesame balls for the first time and trying out their version of my favorite, coconut shrimp.

But really, three pounds?

Really?

For several days?

What’s up with that?

I’m beginning to think our scale is either broken or possessed by a weight loss sabotage demon.

I can see it now: this demon lives inside digital scales and holds onto an unflattering weight so that the person weighing in will loose heart and falter in their weight loss journey. (Yes, I used to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)

Well, I’m having none of that. I’m persistent. I am rapidly approaching 210lbs and that’s all there is to it … even if the scale doesn’t believe me! ;-b

A more likely scenario, however, is that there is no demon possessing my scale, I’ve just reached what is called a weight loss plateau. This is where your body does its best to maintain status quo. So, maybe all this moving has caused me to lower my daily calories too much … so my body thinks I’m in some sort of crisis situation.

Therefore, now that things have settled down, I’ll regain my normal routine and the weight will begin being released again.

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Today, despite feeling better, I tanked again on the Body Test. I think its because I’m now using the balance board on carpet instead of tile. Erg.

Yesterday I really enjoyed my meals. We had gone grocery shopping on Friday and I had purchased some butter lettuce and strawberries. So, I had strawberries on my cereal for breakfast. Yum! And then with dinner I did something daring … I put strawberries in my salad. Double Yum! You might want to try it:Read the rest of this entry »